Scammers have been operating in the Ashby and North West Leicestershire area claiming to be council repair teams.

North West Leicestershire District Council has issued a warning to beware of WhatsApp messages saying a variety of things in connection with local properties.

The council posted on social media making it clear these are scammers pretending to be trades workers trying to gain access to homes or personal details.

But the local authority says it would never contact tenants via WhatsApp.

A message from the council says: "We're concerned about scammers contacting tenants pretending to be from our repairs team.

"We've had reports of people being contacted via WhatsApp by 'The Housing Maintenance Department', 'Repairs Team' or 'working on behalf of the Council' to discuss repairs.

"We wouldn't do this and we're concerned that people may be being encouraged to share personal details.

"We don't use WhatsApp to communicate with tenants.

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"When reporting your repair, we won't ask you to provide any proof of address or ID.

"If you're contacted by someone and it seems suspicious, hang up and call us back on 01530 454545 to ensure it really was us.

"If you need to report a repair, Email: [email protected]

"Or visit: www.nwleics.gov.uk/housing_repairs and complete our repairs form, or call: 01530 454635